Steve Lycett ('Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing')

After successfully adapting Virtua Tennis and OutRun for modern systems, as well as releasing the homage-laden Sega Superstar Tennis, Sumo Digital certainly knows how to please Sega's loyal fanbase. Producer Steve Lycett explains how its experience on OutRun helped shape SEGA & Sonic All-Stars Racing, what to expect from the Nintendo versions, and why the team just had to get Ryo in the game. You can read our hands-on preview of the game here.

Sumo Digital worked on the home port of OutRun 2 and OutRun Online Arcade. How has working on these titles shaped All-Stars from a development and design standpoint?"We love OutRun! I think it was one of the key reasons we decided to try and get that classic SEGA arcade feel for All-Stars. In fact the game started as a pure racer, and then evolved from there. OutRun taught us a lot about how to get the tracks nice and interesting, to find that racing rhythm of drifts and straights. Of course we’ve also added in massive jumps and sheer faces to ride up along and across as well. Hopefully you’ll feel that Sega racing DNA everytime you play All-Star Racing."

As well as Grand Prix and multiplayer, what can we expect from the mission mode?"Mission mode is heavily influenced by OutRun’s Heart Attack mode. It’s where we can also do a lot of things that aren’t strictly just racing too. Want to face off against a huge Zombie? You’ve got it. Who is the fastest Hedgehog between Sonic and Shadow? Let's find out! It’s also allowed us to squeeze in the obligatory video game fruit. Can’t make a video game without fruit in it can you?"

How will the Wii and DS versions differ from the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game? "For Wii, you can race as your Mii, which is something we really wanted to do. It’s got all the same tracks and content - we’ve managed to squeeze it all in there. You’ve also got motion controls, Nunchuk or Classic Controller compatibility, and online play - especially after all the complaints from Sega Superstars Tennis (yes, we did listen!) - as well as online leaderboards for Time Trial. It’s basically the same game, but takes advantage of as many special features the Wii supports as we can. We're also really, really proud of the DS version, it’s a cracking portable game and again offers full multiplayer support - so online, multicart and single cart play."

Will there be a demo for the game?"We’re currently looking at downloadable demos for 360 and PS3, and a DS demo via the Nintendo Channel to boot!"

One of the biggest surprises surrounding the game was the announcement of Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue. Was it a straightforward process to acquire him for the game? "We really wanted Ryo in this time, he was the most requested character that we didn’t manage to get into Superstars Tennis. He was on the plan from day one. That and we had to have the Forklift as the All-Star move. The only thing we didn’t get in was the sailors! We had full backing from AM+, who provided us with more reference than we would ever need. I remember watching the announcement going out on the net, was a real big day for us, and was I think the point where people started to really get excited about the game!"

Were there any characters or titles that you haven't been able to add to the game? If so, why couldn't they be included? "Oh there are so many characters we’d loved to have included, but sadly we’ve got to draw a line somewhere, or the game would never make it out! Our main aim this time was to get a really good spread of characters old and new, and really, I’m pretty happy with the final roster. We’ve announced most of the characters now, but the remaining ones are going to be a real surprise. I daren’t say more, as we’re really enjoying teasing who’s left to show!"

Finally, following the Ryo announcement, many fans have suggested that Sumo Digital would be an ideal studio to develop a Shenmue sequel. Is this something the team would be interested in? "Well we’ve got Ryo already! I think it would be interesting to attempt to live up to the first two games, and I’d love to see Ryo’s story finished. Will he get revenge on Lan Di, will they find the remaining Dragon Mirrors? I’m sure if Sega asked, we’d love to take it on. It’d scare me to death to take on something so epic, but well, I’d like to think we could do it justice. I think if you cut us in half at this point, you’d find Sega written through the middle of us!"